restrictionism

[ri-strik-shuh-niz-uhm]

noun

1. a policy, especially by a national government or legislative body, of enacting restrictions on the amount of imported goods, immigration, etc.

Other Word Forms

• restrictionist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of restrictionism¹

First recorded in 1935–40; restriction + -ism

Example Sentences

In most cases, however, antisemitism, restrictionism, and xenophobia barred refugees.

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"The administration has a moral obligation to stop perpetuating the dangerous restrictionism of the Trump era, which has become the deeply disturbing centerpiece of its own immigration policy," Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of the largest nonprofits helping to resettle asylum-seekers, said in a statement.

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His immigration restrictionism has also hurt an economy that needs more workers to grow.

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Kammer has made a career out of covering immigration policy, he writes, for two reasons: “I was fascinated by its human, political and moral complexity. I also wanted to push back against the campaign by activist groups to label restrictionism as inherently racist.”

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Once a lonely cause, restrictionism had grown into a mature movement — an intellectual ecosystem of sorts — with groups specializing in areas as diverse as litigation and voter mobilization.

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